A knight in shining armor
by you-make-me-wander
Summary: While trying to save Lydia from Eichen House, Stiles is kidnapped. Beaten up, Stiles fights his best to stay conscious for long enough to save his strawberry blonde.


**A/N: Here's a Stydia one-shot for the lovely kuulei-nuggets on tumblr. Guys, go check her fan art, it's amazing!**

He's sure that this last blow just broke one of his ribs; the piercing, breathtaking pain gnawing at him on his left side flank. Because of how strong it was, Stiles bends forward and falls to his knees with a grunt, his right hand quickly searching for his hurt side like it can soothe any of his pain, his left finding the ground for support. He barely has time to catch his breath when he's punched again, twice now, and at the second one Stiles loses his focus for a couple of seconds, sees stars behind his closed eyelids while the guy beating him up just laughs.

Stiles tastes the metallic fluid in his mouth yet again, for the fourth time today already. Disgusted - and even if his jaw and cheekbones hurt like a bitch since he's been harmed repeatedly as to not make much of a sound -, Stiles spits the blood to the ground as close to his attacker as he can manage to be rewarded with a kick, on his right side this time. He bends to the left in pain, now falling to the ground completely helpless, his labored breathing faltering every once in a while. Stiles refuses to moan or whine in pain and he has done so for the past two days, almost three now, the only thing coming out of his lips being low grunts or groans in mere hums. It only seems to entice his attacker more.

The orderly is not even that much bigger than Stiles and even as a human - well, partly -, Stiles could probably take him if he wasn't so weak. Ever since he got to Eichen House and got caught, Stiles hasn't eaten anything or drank any water but he wasn't complaining; he needed to save as much strength as he could. And all for Lydia.

The routine had been the same every time: the guy would come into the cell Stiles was being held hostage in, ask him questions that Stiles refused to answer, beat him up until Stiles was almost passing out and walk out of the cell, only to come back shortly after to inject Stiles with some serum, drugging him to the point of unconsciousness, bending the rules.

Stiles is not sure what those shots are doing to him but they leave Stiles completely numb, and he can't help but to think that it has to be related to his somethingness. It's something he can't ignore anymore; inexplicable things have happened to him a few times in the past and if he concentrates, Stiles can make things happen. Like that one time when he broke free from his restraints here at Eichen or when he was able to complete the circle with the little ashwood he had in his hand almost two years ago, all just by believing and concentrating on his goal. And there's also the fact that he has always healed remarkably fast, a fact that the asshole beating him up seems to know about; if Stiles was just human, he'd probably be in the brink of death by now.

Thankfully, Stiles predicted this, or at least most of it. As soon as he found out that Lydia had been taken – and after, again, recovering too fast from another car crash that should have left him dead -, Stiles found Deaton and opened up for the first time regarding his suspicions about himself. Together, they researched but the only conclusion they came to is that Stiles _is_ something, along with another reveal. Something that Stiles had always wondered about but never really explored; Stiles and Lydia _are_ indeed connected, and if there's someone who would be able to find her, to save her, it's Stiles.

They came up with a plan along with Scott, a plan that the others weren't so sure about but that Stiles was irrevocably convinced would work no matter what happened to him in the process. He'd infiltrate Eichen, look around for Lydia, make sure that she was okay and get her the hell out of there, simple like that. Of course Scott was forbidden of telling the Sheriff about it. If Stiles was the only one who could find and save Lydia, nothing would get in his way. Scott was to say nothing to the older man and wait for Stiles' signal.

Of course Stiles knew that things wouldn't be that easy; there were too many variables to take into consideration. First, they could be torturing Lydia for all he knows and yes, Stiles may or may not be pondering killing someone if that's the case and he's not even joking about it – Scott had just side-eyed him at that idea. Second, Lydia might not be at Eichen House at all though Stiles is 98% sure that she is, if his gut is anything to go by. At least it hasn't failed him that much until now.

There's also another thing to worry about. Lydia might not even know that Stiles is alive - the last image she had had of him was a bloodied Stiles lying in his wreck of a Jeep after the accident, almost a week ago; Lydia had been taken away from him then. And lastly, and much like Lydia, Stiles doesn't know if the banshee is alive either but he doesn't want to think about that. He knows she is, she has to be.

It's like Scott had told him in the beginning of senior year, about the regression to the mean. Things were going really bad with the Dread Doctors; in fact, Stiles is still not sure how they are all still alive at this point but the thing is that even in all the bad, things evened out. Malia was out of the picture, has been ever since they found the Desert Wolf and Lydia might have unwillingly let out in frustration that " _Finally. It wasn't soon enough._ "

She hadn't meant for it to sound so bitter, not on purpose, but Stiles had finally told her that he and Malia were finished for good and Lydia hadn't be able to stop herself from making that comment. Of course it led to some long overdue – and not so innocent - bickering between Stiles and Lydia. It was good though; things were put in perspective in between the two and even if neither admitted to their feelings for the other, they had agreed on spending more time together again for old time's sake, thus why they were in the Jeep together when it happened. Stiles had just wanted to take Lydia out for some ice cream; instead, he ended up in a car crash with the banshee, the accident caused by the Dread Doctors who ended up taking Lydia from the scene. Why Stiles thought that things would finally get better for everyone is beyond him; it's not like they ever do.

Since he got to Eichen though, Stiles has been keeping her smile in his mind, the smile that Lydia gave him just before they were hit, a grin she had given into after he told her a really bad joke. He remembers how her eyes seemed to glow when she gave him that genuine smile; it's what's keeping him alive now, it's what's been keeping him focused through all of this. His priority is Lydia, and nothing is going to get in his way.

He's been waiting for the right moment to make a move and it'll have to be now; if not, Stiles is not sure how long he'll be able to keep this up. He hasn't been able to form many words since he got there; at first he had been quiet while snooping around looking for Lydia, but when he got caught his attacker made sure that Stiles' jaw wasn't of much help to the boy in letting out sounds. He's been gathering his strength since then, only whispering in the night when he's left alone and locked up to test it, to make sure that his voice will not falter him in his time of need, and it has to be now!

The orderly leaves him, done with the beating for the moment and only for long enough to come back with a ridiculously large syringe – one that Stiles dreads -, the same way he's been doing up until now, which gives Stiles about a minute by himself. As soon as the door is closed behind the man and Stiles is completely alone, he tries his best to get up to his feet, looking for support in the nearest wall.

Stiles takes a very deep breath, his thoughts about Lydia and Lydia alone, his mind picturing his end result: that Lydia will be able to hear him. It's only in his favor that he's in Echo house after all. If she's there and if she needs any reassurance that he's alive, she'll get it now. Stiles opens his mouth and screams, his voice echoing throughout the building.

"LYDIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He's left breathless and tries his best to stand upright and not fall on his face, worn-out as he feels. He wonders if this is how it works for Lydia when she's the one screaming.

For a few seconds he can't hear a thing; not his own heartbeat in his ears because of the adrenaline, not the droplets of water that have been falling from the ceiling and onto a pipe near the wall, not even his foot as he stomps it hard against the floor as an experiment to see if it created any sound. Deaton had said that it might go like this, that his connection to Lydia might channel a jiff of her own abilities, and until he's able to hear again in about ten seconds Stiles feels strangely at peace, serene, only seeing Lydia in his mind.

Then the door opens abruptly, and the orderly comes rushing back in to see what just happened; Stiles stands straighter, getting ready to fight. Clenching his fist and focusing on gathering all of his strength there, Stiles is about to throw a punch when he hears it, and Stiles could swear time stopped just then.

It's far away from him enough that Stiles is not certain from which direction the sound comes from, but it's the cry of his banshee for sure and it's all the enticement he needs to move and punch the orderly square in the jaw, hard enough that the guy falls and stays on the ground for long enough for Stiles to get away from that damned room.

Stiles winces in pain as he tries his best to run down the hallways of Eichen House, screaming for Lydia like a mad man. "LYDIA!" He makes a turn, focusing on her as hard as he can manage, trying to get any kind of sense of where she could be. "LYDIA!" He thinks he hears muffled noised on the left so he changes course again, his right hand still supporting his most recent broken rib as his breathing becomes too labored. God, he's tired.

He hears her scream again, but not a scream of distress this time, he notices. It's like the one's she has learned recently, the ones she lets out when she's fighting. Stiles runs faster. "LYDIA! LYDIA!"

 _Please be okay, please be okay_ are the words that just won't get out of his head as he approaches her. He can hear her more clearly now; her groans, her hums, her curse words. "LYDIA!"

"STILES?"

His heart thumps wildly in his chest and he gasps for air. He's too tired but he needs to get to her. "LYDIA!" Just as he passes a vacant room he sees it, a flash of dull strawberry blonde hair gashing through the air close to a door on the other side of that room, and Stiles stops dead in his tracks when he notices blood on the floor, on the space Lydia was just in. He rushes in her direction. "LYDIA!"

She doesn't stop though. She needs her attacker to succumb first before making sure she's not hallucinating. The man runs towards her again and Lydia gets into position, her left hand grabbing his right wrist with such force that she surprises even herself, and the scalpel the man was holding falls to the ground besides them. He can feel the bone cracking where Lydia is hurting him.

His shocked expression only leads Lydia to do more, to make sure that he's out of this fight for good so, still grabbing his wrist and pulling the man down, Lydia knees him in the stomach, taking a few steps back as he bends forward in lacerating pain, but he's back up again soon and Lydia is left with no choice.

Just as Stiles enters the room they're in, Lydia waits until the man comes running in her direction again, only to push hard against his chest with both her hands, making the man fly through the room until he hits the opposite wall with a loud thud and falls to the ground unconscious. The grunt that Lydia let out while doing so was more victorious than anything.

She hears a hushed "Lydia?" behind her and holds her breath, her first instinct being to protect herself against the hallucinations. She gets down to catch the scalpel from the floor, just in case. She ignores the way the blood keeps running from her bicep where the man cut her just minutes before. Keeping the scalpel tucked underneath her sleeve, Lydia gets up again ready to face the enemy but then the voice hums "Lydia" again, and her name sounds so sweet that there's no way that that's not Stiles; no hallucination could ever call for her like that.

She turns around slowly to face him, and she founds him to be just as broken as she is, maybe more, holding himself up by leaning against the doorframe; dead tired, dirty, chapped lips and bruises all over. She's just about to walk over to him when another orderly comes from behind him, and before Stiles can even acknowledge what's happening, something hits him hard and he falls to the ground once more.

Lydia cries for him a second too late, her warning leaving her nothing but raged at the failed attempt of helping Stiles, and as the man starts walking towards her with a devious smirk on his face, she tightens her grip on the scalpel she still has in her hand.

"Well, well, little banshee. Looks like someone cares for you after all," the man hisses, his eyes daggering Lydia's like any of this is her fault. She'll tell him.

Stiles is still disoriented when it happens, and just as the sound reaches his ears he's on his feet because Lydia nothing but whispered " _Get up,_ _Stiles_ " in a murmur so low that Stiles is positive he wouldn't be able to hear it if he was glued to her, so however they are bonded it's working.

They share the briefest of glances and Stiles almost misses his cue, just staring at her in wonder as Lydia waits for the man to be close enough before avoiding a punch he tries to throw at her by bending down and elbowing him in his flank as hard as she can, then stabbing him near the clavicle when he charges against her one more time. Stiles was supposed to restrain him then, but for a few seconds he can't really move. He can't believe that Lydia has moves like that.

He'd only heard about them, not seen them firsthand so excuse him for being awestruck. If it weren't for them being in a life threatening situation, Lydia would have probably laughed. "Stiles!"

Her voice brings him out of his daze and he moves quickly, taking off his jacket and using it to immobilize the guy's hands behind his back, then punching the guy out of pure rage. No one messes with his strawberry blonde. The man hisses and curses under his breath.

Finally looking properly at Lydia, he's worried about how tiny she looks, how out of place even if not nearly ten seconds ago she looked like a badass goddess. He runs to her side, his hands roaming her body searching for the worst injuries, pleased in finding out that she's not as bad as he is. He cups her cheeks and lets out a relieved breath. "Are you okay?"

Tears are running down her cheeks and she's not even sure why. She purses her lips briefly as her hands pull Stiles closer by the waist, nodding against his chest. "You're okay now, I got you," he murmurs repeatedly, soothing her nerves as soon as he places a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"I-" She sobs. "I thought you were… I didn't know if you were alive, Stiles, I thought-"

He cuts her off with a quick kiss on the lips, one that does nothing to appease how much one has missed, has worried about the other in the past few days. "I know," he murmurs. He knows exactly how she feels.

"Isn't this beautiful?" The man intends on continuing with his snarky remarks but this time it's Lydia who takes her revenge.

Letting go of Stiles and making her way to the man who's sitting on the floor just a few feet away from them, Lydia gives him a sly smile before reaching for the scalpel, still in place on the man's flesh. "I'm going to take this," she says, making a point of twisting the scalpel and dig it in just a little bit more before taking it out abruptly. The man cries out in pain. Returning to her place beside Stiles, her free hand automatically looks for his. "We need to get out of here. Can you walk? You look breathless," she mutters, worried about his frantic breathing. He nods, unsurely in her opinion, so she encourages him. "Come on, Stiles. We can get out of here. _Believe_."

It takes them almost an hour and taking down another four opponents to find their freedom, Lydia holding Stiles up since he's far worse than she is, his arm around her shoulders keeping him on his feet. He tells her about a hidden backpack close to the building, one with a phone and tools they might need for if they'd actually been able to escape, and as soon as they find it they call Scott.

xxxxxxxxxx

It's almost dawn when they find themselves home, finally safe, and Stiles insists that Lydia stays with him. They won't be sleeping apart, not tonight. Or well, today. They take showers and try for some food, not wanting to push their luck until their systems are back to normal, back to eating properly again. By the time they fall into his bed, it only takes them about ten minutes to fall asleep. Still, ten minutes that are still enough to share some hushed words.

"You found me," she murmurs against his lips, not touching them but sending shivers down his spine as if she were. "You found me."

Stiles gives her a small smile, kissing her nose. "I did. I wish I could say I was your knight in shining armor but you were actually the one saving my ass, so thank you."

Lydia chuckles softly. "I was your knight, then."

"My knight in shining armor," he whispers, his voice laced with sleep.

Lydia kisses his lips softly, too tired to make it last for long. "That didn't count as a first date, just so you know," she mumbles.

He breaks into a lazy grin. "Good! For a second there, I thought one or both of us was gonna end up dead and that would have killed the mood."

They stay comfortably quiet for a minute, just breathing each other in. Lydia nuzzles against his chest and into his embrace. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"Saving me. Putting yourself in harm's way for me. Believing in me, in us."

He kisses the top of her head and soon they're drifting off to sleep. The last words she remembers hearing for the night fall out of his lips like a promise. "Always."

 **A/N:** **As always, feedback is appreciated**

 **Also, remember that I'm usually on tumblr (you-make-me-wander) and very, very often on twitter ( youmakemewander). If you want to talk to me about my fics, you can message me in either one. I've already posted one or two messages about what I'm gonna do next on "Mysterious ways", "Know better" and "As fate would have it".** **I'll post teases soon ^^**


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